All posts by Chris Bishop

Categories: Graco, Kentucky, Phyllis, Pikeville

The Vibrators

November 27, 2016 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

The Vibrators came from Pike County in eastern Kentucky, including the towns of Pikeville and Phyllis. Circa 1968 they cut the fine single “Bad Girl”, written by Stevie Justice. There’s a lot to like about the song, including a good guitar solo, excellent drum fills and lyrics like “I’ll get even with you before I die”.

The single came out on Graco Records 45-507, with deadwax markings repeated on the labels, 5650/1. The Vibrators would have traveled some distance to find a pressing plant for the singles. Lexington, Kentucky was 140 miles away, and Charleston or Huntington, West Virginia were not much closer. Max Waller suggests the 5650 code indicates Southern Plastics / United Record Pressing in Nashville, which is likely, though there is no etched “SO” or Nashville Matrix stamp in the deadwax. If the 45 is from Southern Plastics, the code would indicate a January, 1969 release.

Richard Hunt produced both sides. The labels indicate BMI for both songs but I can find no evidence of copyright registration for either song.

I only know of two band members’ names, Steve Justice and Fonso Fields. Fonso Fields wrote the flip, the bluesy instrumental “Keep a Dreamin’”.

Categories: Livingston, Re-Echo, Tennessee

The Madhatters on Re-Echo Records

November 16, 2016 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

The Madhatters have the earliest single on the Re-Echo Records label out of Livingston, Tennessee, about 100 miles northeast of Nashville. The A-side was a better-than-average version of “Unchain My Heart” b/w a breezy garage pop song, “That Kind of Girl”, released on Re-Echo Records 1003-45 in 1966.

T. Bradford, M. Peterman, J. Holloway wrote “That Kind of Girl” and were probably members of the band. I can’t find any further info on the group.

The Madhatters – “Unchain My Heart”
The Madhatters – “That Kind of Girl”

The label reads published by Middle Tenn. Music Co. BMI and Atwell Studio Production. Unfortunately, though many other songs published by Middle Tennessee Music were registered in the ’60s, I can find no copyright notice for this song or the writers.

Like many early releases on Re-Echo, this is a Rite pressing 17843/4, account number 1810. Other than the Madhatters, all other releases on the Re-Echo label seem to be either country or white gospel music.

Livingston, TN also had the Breeze Records label, based out of 209 South Church Street, with a connection to Atwell Publishing on 704 Bennett St. in Lafayette, TN, and featuring Dickey Cherry and Lonnie Holt, among others.

Re-Echo Records discography (probably incomplete)

1003 – Madhatters – “Unchain My Heart” / “That Kind of Girl”
1004 – Jim Edwards – “Talk to Your Heart” (James E. Hensley) / “If You Were My Darling”
1005 – Crownsmen Quartet – “Sweet Jesus” / “When God’s Chariot Comes”
1007 – Herman Hatfield and the Tennessee Valley Boys – “Sweet Memories of You” / “He Is The Master of Us All”
1008 – Sharlet Sexton & the Tennessee Valley Boys – “I Ain’t Good For Nothin ‘cept Pickin and Singin” / “Boys Like You”
1010 – Leon and Earl & the Bluegrass Mountain Boys – “There Could Never Be Another” / “False Dreams”
1011 – The Poston Family – “I Remember Daddy” / “It Might As Well Be Me”
1012 – Vic Jason & the Lonely Ones – Home Again” / “To Be Free” (both by Charles ‘Clint’ Cravens)
1014 – Dickey Cherry and the Common People – “All But Me” (Terry Muncy) / “Anita, You’re Dreaming”
45-6-2328-69 – Lonnie Holt – “Overton Hanging” / “One Little Things At a Time”

plus a spiritual album by the Four J’s Keeper of the Door.

Categories: JnJ, Unknown

Paul & Emile and the Brighter Side

November 15, 2016 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Paul & Emile were Paul Carrubba and Emile Daniel. Backed by the Brighter Side the duo cut a neat and very obscure single, “I Can’t Take It” b/w “My Love For You” on JnJ 501. I don’t know the date of release. I’ve read the group was from Indiana, but Mississippi seems possible to me from name searches.

The Brighter Side takes “I Can’t Take It” at a fast pace, with some nice guitar work and quick drum fills. Paul Carrubba wrote “I Can’t Take It”, while Emile Daniel wrote the drearier “My Love For You”.

The labels list “the Brighter Side conducted by B. Haik” and produced by J. Allen. I can find no copyright info on either song.

Categories: Canary, Nashville, Tennessee, Unknown

The Tangle on Canary Records

November 10, 2016 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

The Tangle recorded the very cool single “Any Time, Any Where” / “Our Side of Town” for Canary Records of Nashville, Tennessee in October 1966.

Alvin Holland and Nyman Furr came from Camden, Tennessee, about 50 miles west of Nashville, so that was possibly the base for the group.

Members included:

Alvin Holland – guitar and lead vocals (?)
Ronnie Waters – guitar
Nyman Furr – bass
(?) Hayes – drums

“Any Time, Any Where” has great riffing guitars and a relaxed Stones-like feel to the vocals and band.

When I can make out the lyrics to “Our Side of Town” they’re wild: something about munching her box…lunch.

According to the labels, Halland, Furr, Hayes, Waters wrote both songs. C.L. Womack produced the single and also published both songs through C.L. Womack Pub. Co. BMI but I can find no copyright listing in the Library of Congress indexes.

Halland is a typo for Holland and a site for the Tennessee River Crooks band featuring Ronnie Waters on guitar listed the members of the Tangle as Alvin Holland, Ronnie Waters and Nyman Furr.

Holland, Waters and Furr later played in versions of Maggie Lee & the Percussions.

Nyman Furr passed away on March 10, 2007, according to Wikipedia.

Thank you to Max Waller and Mario Aguayo for their help with finding info on this band.

Canary Records had at least seven releases, most seem to be country music. J.C. Rhoton, Jr. shows up a lot on the labels, possibly he owned the label. Howard Rhoton may be his son, his “I’ll Skip School” on Canary was advertised in Billboard on April 25, 1964.

Gower-Moore Studio seems to be connected to the Gower guitar makers in Nashville.

Canary had two Nashville addresses on its labels, 2906 Ironwood Drive and 2911 Harlin Drive.

Canary Records discography (any help with this would be appreciated)

Canary 1002 – Rhodes Boys – “Pretty Little Miss” (V. Rhodes, B. Rhodes, V. Rhodes) / “Got A One Way Ticket”, prod. by Curtis McPeake, Gower-Moore Studio Production.

Canary 1008 – Howard Rhoton – “Look Back” / “I’ll Skip School” (H. Rhoton, J. Rhoton), Gower-Moore Studio Production.

Canary 1010 – Bob Hayes – “Johnny Reb Was a Fighting Man” / “1862” (both by B. Hayes, C.L. Womack for Ironwood Music)

Canary 1012 – The Tangle – “Any Time, Any Where” / “Our Side of Town”

Canary 2001 – Barbara Dale – “Winner Take All” (Joe South) / “There Stands My World”, produced by J.C. Rhoton, Jr.

Canary 2002 – Charlie Rife & the Chordsmen – “Are You Sure” (C. Rife) / “Here’s the Key”, prod by J.C. Rhoton, Jr, for J.C. Rhoton Music BMI

Canary 2003 – Barbara Dale – “Missing You Again” (Baker Knight) / “Greatest Show on Earth” (Mike Cain)

Categories: Bag One Way, El Campo, Texas

Mechanical Switch

November 7, 2016 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

Here is a previously unpublished history of Mechanical Switch written by lead vocalist and song writer Bart Baca in 1994. Thank you to Bart and to Massimo Di Gianfrancesco for bringing this history to light.

First time I heard the monster Texas garage psych two-syder 45 by Mechanical Switch was in the late ’80s when I bought a copy of Eva Records’ Texas Psychedelia. A few years after in the early 90’s. I bought an original copy with the picture sleeve from an U.S. dealer; I was so happy considering the scarcity of the 45 and for such awesome punkadelic single. At the time we did a small ‘zine called Never Existed, so for the second issue (that never came out), I sent a xerox copy of the pic sleeve to my friends Matteo Bocci and G. Del Buono to try contact the band by phone ’cause they had easier access to call the states. The band was shocked that somebody from Italy in the ’90s were looking for them and liked them so much; they happily sent us the pics and story you find here, enjoy!

Massimo Di Gianfrancesco

Mechanical Switch started in a garage in the small Texas farming town of El Campo. It was 1966, a wild period in U.S.A. history. Sixties music was rocking in Texas. Our group met at high school and began practicing, playing music by the Yardbirds, Stones, Animals, English groups.
The Mechanical Switch core band was Alan Meek, lead guitar; Leroy Shelton, rhythm and bass guitar; Benny Dusek, drums; and me, Bart Baca, vocals and tambourine. Mark Wenglar, organ and several other bass players joined later.
We started playing school gigs and local clubs in 1967. Rednecks and cowboys hated us and our hair and music. Always wanted to fight us. We tried to play in the high school talent contest but the principal read the words to the song we picked (“Satisfaction” by the Stones) and he stopped us. Just driving around town could be dangerous.
The late 60s brought psychedelic music and a dropout-anti-war, turned-on counterculture. We had played some pretty good shows in the Houston area where girls would mob us and start to rip off our clothes. We wore paisley and metallic Nehru jackets and “Beatle boots”. We did songs by psychedelic bands like Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Fever Tree, Iron Butterfly, Spirit and the Doors, and traditional English rock.
We also wrote a number of songs and recorded two in 1969. We recorded in Robin Hood Bryan’s studio in Tyler Texas where other psychedelic groups had recorded. We recorded all night. Our 45 rpm record had a drug-love song “Everything is Red” on the “A” side and “Spongeman” on the “B” side. “Spongeman”, about a flaky guy who lived by soaking up his girl’s love, was a hit and all copies of our record sold, except for a few we kept.
Vietnam was big. The war was always reaching for us, trying to get us into it. We saw friends dying for nothing or skipping off to Canada and blowing off their life. We recorded psychedelic songs and sent them to soldiers in Nam since they did not have live rock to listen to. Some songs were so radical people would not send them to the soldiers. Rednecks and cowboys were worse than ever. They were also our parents. Marching or even talking against the war was risky. Keeping long hair was hell. Mine was curly so I had to use heavy grease or go to a black lady who knew how to iron it straight.
The draft lottery and college deferments kept some out of war, but many went. Anyway, the band broke up during these times (1970). Leroy joined the service, went to Korea, returned to the U.S., and died in a mine cave-in. Benny joined the service and went to Germany. He is now in the Texas oil business. Alan and I went to college. Alan is a farmer in El Campo, still playing a little guitar. I am in environmental work in Florida. Watching for a rebirth of the rebel rock music of the late 60s. Saw it happen again with punk, and grunge. Kind of repeats itself when we need it.
Bart Baca
11-15-94

We recommend On the Road South for more info and photos of Mechanical Switch.

Categories: Columbia County, Hudson, Kennett Sound (Kinderhook NY), New York, Reeb

The Fownds of Hudson, NY

November 5, 2016 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

The Fownds came from Hudson, New York. They had two singles, first the thumping rocker “Comin On Strong” b/w the doo-wop influenced “Rosalin” in 1971, and then the moody “Remember” b/w a hot rod parody “Wheels” (the band name changed to the Founds on this release).

Both singles have a sound like something from the early-mid ’60s despite the release dates.

Donald Moore wrote most of the songs and did some lead vocals. Sal Gambino wrote “Rosalin”, and Roy Jackson sang lead on the moody “Remember”.

The Fownds released both singles on their own Reeb label (“beer” spelled backwards), a custom label through Earl Kennett’s studio in Kinderhook.

Don Moore had a later band called Confusion, I believe he passed away in 2013.

Categories: Amway, Kentucky, Paintsville

The Classics “I’m Hurtin'” on Amway

November 1, 2016 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

The Classics at Teen Town in Paintsville

The Classics came from Paintsville, Kentucky, a town about 110 miles east of Lexington, KY. Members included:

Richard Titlow – lead vocals and guitar
Bill (Fats) Garland – organ
Bill Osborne – lead guitar
Pat Donohue – bass
Frank Hughes – drums

The Classics played at the Teen Town in Paintsville, where two of the photos here were taken. Tim Warren writes “Other local combos included The Midnighters, The Shadows of Infinity, Johnny Reb & the Rebels, XLs, the Chessmen, the Crabs, the Invaders (from Prestonburg), the Mag Seven (from Lexington) and the Saxons (from Pikesville) who released one 45, “She’s All Wrong” / “I’ll Go Wandering” on REM.”

With no local studios to record in, the band started looking farther afield. When the Classics traveled to Louisville to be in Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, Bill Garland’s father set up a deal to pay for them to record in Indiana for the Amway label.

The Classics on stage, possibly in Louisville
from left: Bill Garland, Frank Hughes (on drums), Pat Donohue, Richard Titlow and Bill Osborne

John wrote to me:

I remember Richard telling me that the 45 was recorded in someone’s house and that they all were in different rooms but it was a live take. He said the guy that was going to record them asked about the b side and they quickly had to throw an original song together.

Drummer Frank Hughes wrote the A-side “Trisha” for his girlfriend, with help from Billy Garland, Richard Titlow and Bill Osborne. It features a partly spoken vocal aswirl in the echoing organ. The flip is what makes the single legendary now, the intense “I’m Hurtin’” written by Garland, Titlow and Donahue. Playridge Music published both songs, the codes 825M-4956, T4KM-4956, indicate a custom RCA pressing from the first half of 1966.

Crypt Records included “I’m Hurtin’” on Back From the Grave vol. 9.

It’s likely the draft broke the group up. John writes that the four members he knows are all still alive and well.

Special thanks to John Chaney, a guitarist who sat in with most of the band’s members at annual reunions at the area’s country club, for the photos and some of the info. More of the info comes from Tim Warren’s notes to Back from the Grave volume 9 – but you’ll have to read Tim’s notes for the raucous stories.

John Chaney, left with members of the Classics

John Chaney with Bill Garland of the Classics

Categories: Champaign, Illinois, Rofran, Urbana

The Intruders on Rofran

November 1, 2016 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

The Intruders have the very first release on the Rofran label from Urbana, Illinois. Both sides are very good guitar instrumentals, originals composed by R.S. Little. “Deception” is particularly sharp.

I don’t know of any other releases by the Intruders, and the R.S. Little name does not appear on additional Rofran 45s that I’ve seen, so this may be their only recording.

The codes on the labels, S-4272 and S-4273 indicates Sheldon in Chicago did the pressing – anyone have a way to date those Sheldon numbers?

Intruders – Deception
Intruders – Intrudin’

So far I have not found a connection to any other Intruders group such as:

Pittsfield, IL, with Doug Oakley, Bill Mobus, Bob ‘Bub’ Evans, Larry Lemons and Jeff Hallows who released “Now That You Know” / “She’s Mine” on IT 2312 in Sept. 1966.

Rockford, IL, who cut “Bringin’ Me Down” (Ginsburg) / “The World You’ve Created (in Your Mind)” (John Bishoff) on Claremont CL 665 in May of ’66.

St. Louis, MO, with Gary Szevery, Barry Schepers, Andre Garamella, Jim Ebert and Kit Sodergren, who cut “I’ll Go On” / “That’s The Way” on Marlo and “Total Raunch” / “Ruins” on Cinema in 1966.

Categories: New York, New York City, Not garage

Arboreal “Our Souls Would See Us Through”

October 29, 2016 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

This single by Arboreal was a mystery to me, the only names on the label are Glen, Greg Allen, and no label name or address. Even the deadwax only repeats the 45-ST-101 A/B on the labels. When I first wrote this post in late October, 2016, there was no info on the ‘net, nothing.

Obviously it’s not ’60s garage but sounds like mid-late 70s rock, without much punk influence. The opening of “Our Souls Would See Us Through” reminds me a little of Wire, but that’s as far as it goes. “16 Years Old” gives more attitude, but both songs have an original sound that can’t be pegged to any movement or sound from the time. The songs are in stereo.

As it turns out, Arboreal were two brothers, Greg Allen and Glen Allen, originally from Nutley, New Jersey but living in New York City when they went into a studio as early as 1968 and cut the songs on this single.

My friend Jason of Rip It Up R.I. and The Basement Walls did some excellent sleuthing and contacted Steve Simels of the Power Pop blog who had been in the Floor Models with Glen Robert Allen in the 1980s.. Glen wrote a long history of the band.

The entire post is worth a read, but the relevant paragraphs are:

Greg and I had a clunky but good sounding Telefunken tape recorder and, later, a Sony that had sound-on-sound,as it was called back then. We could overdub ourselves. Many Dada-esque tunes were recorded, and some attempts at “real” music as well.
But in ’68 I took up guitar, and we wrote and recorded more in earnest. By then our family had been in NYC for about a year. Greg and I decided to record in an actual studio.
An older classmate of mine, Jon Fausty, was working in a studio that specialized in Latin music. The first day in the studio the equipment went south, wouldn’t work. I was actually relieved, for although Greg and I had performed in public and had recorded at home, this was A STUDIO! Where RECORDS WERE MADE!
The next day the gear was in working order, and I had shaken off the nerves. After all, I did have long wavy hair, a cool turquoise ring, a Superman-logo’d tee shirt, tie-dyed jeans, and, most of all, my ’68 Gold-Top Les Paul Standard on which I had mastered the three essential chords.
I also loved the name we’d devised: Arboreal. We always had a thing for chimps, and we both probably would’ve proposed to Jane Goodall.
Greg was a metronomic drummer, a better time-keeper than me (‘though I keep good time!). But who knew at the time that left handed drummers set up their drums differently than righties? Not us — we’d only seen righties ever play.
Nontheless, with Greg keeping time and me on guitar, bass and vocals(!), we cut “Our Souls Would See Us Through,” which Greg wrote the lyric for, and “Sixteen Years Old,” which I wrote.
The chorus on “Sixteen…” was originally “Things are pretty shitty when you’re sixteen years old..” But for the sake of mass appeal and radio play, I cleverly changed “shitty” to “sickening”. A move of rare genius, though I missed the sheer beauty of the “pretty/shitty” rhyme scheme.
Greg, in true mystical metaphoric mode, came up with “we gazed into each other’s eyestreams, until we met each other’s dreams.” And to think — “eyestreams” was hardly ever used back then!
We printed 100 45’s, sent them out to several record companies, and waited for the offers to roll in. Some of the rejection letters came on very nice stationery. Some with encouraging comments and actual signatures!
As I recall, Pickwick, a budget label, made an offer, but we held out for the big fish. That fish is still swimming merrily out there somewhere….

I’d like to hear some of the Allen brothers other early tapes, they obviously had a very original approach to rock music.

Categories: Alabama, MBM, Montgomery

The Rogues “Put You Down”

October 6, 2016 Chris Bishop

The Rogues of Montgomery on WSFA, Rich Gainer on vocals

The Rogues of Montgomery, AL cut one great rock single, “Put You Down” b/w a version of “Stormy Monday Blues”.

“Put You Down” was written by lead guitarist Max Kendrick and vocalist Rich Gainer. The Rogues recorded the 45 in February of 1966, for MBM Records, a Birmingham, Alabama label that goes back to the early ’60s.

For years this group was assumed to be the same as the Rogues and the Dry Grins of Lafayette, Louisiana, but I’ve heard from Rich Gainer through his daughter, Dorian, who sent in the photo above, showing the group playing live on WSFA TV in Montgomery.

Rich Gainer provides this history of the band:

The Rogues were founded in mid-1965 as a result of my being stationed at Maxwell USAF Base in Montgomery, Alabama, and meeting Bill Myers (rhythm guitar and vocals), Larry Taylor (Hofner bass), and Casey Bolt (drums), officers’ kids whose Dads had recently been reassigned there from Germany. These teens had been playing music in a band in Germany at the time the Beatles were popular and playing there, and had picked up on the style of British Invasion groups. From the time we first met and practiced together a little bit, we were getting bookings at area military and off-base clubs, and were playing gigs several times a week.
Early-on, we were introduced to Max Kendrick who would become our excellent lead guitar player, sporting his Fender Jazzmaster and Rickenbacker 12 string. Max’s Dad was the Colonel in charge of AU TV on base, and we were among the first groups to pioneer videos. Keyboards came later in the form of Max’s cousin Frank, for whom we purchased a Vox Continental organ. Through the time the Rogues were together 1965-1969, we also had the services of Joe Tucker at lead guitar and Dan Fucci who very quickly learned to play the drums in order to become our drummer.
Max and I wrote the song “Put You Down”, which we recorded for the MBM label in a Muscle Shoals, Alabama studio in 1966. Colonel Taylor, our bass player’s Dad, made the recording deal with the studio in Muscle Shoals (think it was FAME) which included the label deal with MBM. The song actually topped the charts on WBAM in Montgomery, AL for a few weeks which gave us introductions to the British Invasion groups coming through Montgomery for the Big BAM shows held at the Coliseum for many years, like The Who, The Hollies, The Blues Magoos, The Kinks, and many more including American groups like The Beach Boys, The Beau Brummels, The Turtles, and so on. Best bands we met and heard in person – The Byrds – magical and electric, and The Beach Boys – amazing sound.
We were scheduled to open for Paul Revere and the Raiders at the first WHHY Show at The Coliseum, but they wheeled out their Vox Super Beatle Amps and bulldozed our equipment off the stage some 10-12 foot drop.
We started playing teen clubs in rural Alabama, Georgia, and North Florida, and hired R. L. and Granny Davis, owners of The Opp Teen Club as booking agents for a couple of years. We were in that scene at the same time as The Rockin’ Gibraltars, The K-Otics, The James Gang, and The Candymen to name a few.
In 1968, when my Air Force time was up, the group split up. Larry and Dan became B52 pilots like their Dads, and Bill took over his Dad’s real estate business in Montgomery. Lost track of Casey and Max and the others, but would like to reconnect if it were possible. I went on to write more songs and record in Nashville for a few years with limited success through the 1990’s. Hank Tubb was my alias when I did comedy along with music. See https://www.reverbnation/hicksintrucks
Q. How many records pressed up? It’s very rare nowadays.
Probably a 1000 copies pressed. I used to have a few dozen but don’t know what happened to them over the years.
Q. Did the band play “Put You Down” at live shows?
Yes, played “Put You Down” everywhere, especially when it was on WBAM charts.
Q. Did the Rogues make any unreleased recordings?
We made lots of video recordings at AU TV, but on proprietary equipment and no longer available. No other audio recordings.
– Rich Gainer

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